Sandvik equipment improves Premier Plant’s quarry performance

The civil engineering and crushing contractor Premier Plant has become increasingly active in central Scotland, with crushing contracts in quarry sites becoming a major part of the company’s operations. Premier Plant was contracted to crush and screen aggregates for two motorway developments by Aggregate Industries at their quarry in Croy, Scotland. The Croy quarry is renowned for its hard rock, and is further complicated by its location near to residential properties and the remains of a Roman fort, a site of historical interest. Therefore, any equipment used on site must be able to process the hard rock with minimal environmental impact.

The contractor found that its existing equipment was unequal to the task, with its crushers unable to process the aggregate in the necessary quantities, nor to the standards required. In addition, noise pollution and dust emissions were found to be unacceptably high. The contractor therefore chose to invest in a Sandvik UJ440i tracked jaw crusher.

The UJ440I is a heavy and robust crusher that has been used productively throughout the world. It possesses an on-board ‘intelligence’ system for trouble-free operation. The crusher has a jaw size of 1200 x 800 mm (48 x 32 in.) for high rates of production, and a generous feed opening coupled with a hydraulic close side setting that enables rapid changes through push button operation. It has rubber-lined hoppers to aid minimising noise pollution, and features dust suppression as standard to reduce dust emissions. The UJ440i boasts trouble-free and safe operation due to automatic and continuous monitoring of the production process by the inbuilt control system. Operational uptime is maximised due to its inherent low maintenance requirement and the ease with which faults can be located.

Due to the success of the UJ440i and its work at the Croy quarry, Premier Plant decided to add to its fleet and recently acquired a Sandvik UH440i tracked cone crusher. The cone crusher comes complete with an automatic setting system (ASRi), which optimises cone crusher efficiency that automatically adapts the crusher to variations in feed conditions. Designed for superb product shape, at high throughput, the entire crushing system ensures the cone crusher is focused towards maximum throughput at all times with ASRi, an integral machine feature. It is able to produce more than one product through a closed circuit package with a screening unit together with an additional product conveyor. As with the UJ440i, the built-in intelligence control system enables automatic and continuous monitoring, and the rubber-lined hoppers minimise noise pollution. Its diesel engine is designed for low fuel consumption and minimum transmission losses.

Premier Plant’s experience with Sandvik equipment has shown that the production of high quality aggregates does not have to be at the expense of the locality and the environment. Keith Leslie, Director of Premier Plant, summarises: “The Sandvik crushers are able to produce the aggregate in the quantities that are required; they are able to do this efficiently, cost-effectively and – vitally - in an environmentally friendly way.”